My Left Hand Command
by zala123attha
Summary: Athrun Zala was always the coldhearted commander of the PLANTs Military. But can a certain blonde who suddenly enters his world be enough to warm his heart? mostly[AXC]bit of[KxL][DxM] [YxS]
1. Recruit

**EDITED CHAPTER OF "MY LEFT HAND COMMAND" (April 24, 2013)  
Kira and Cagalli are siblings with different surnames (which will be explained in the fic later on)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 01: Recruit**

"Cagalli Yula Attha, sir." Nicol Amalfi stated as he stood in formality in front of his commander. The said man did not look a bit pleased as he browsed through the folder that he held.

"Aren't there any men?"

"I'm sorry to say that she exceeded the capabilities of the men who tried out for the slot, sir."

"And these capabilities being…?" The report that he was represented with did nothing to assure him of the new recruit's skills. He hated the mere thought of a woman joining his team.

"If it's any consolation sir, she is the younger sister of Commander Yamato."

"Amalfi, ability is not inherited." His voice showed no sign of amusement or interest. He merely gave his soldier a glare, quite irritated by his statement.

Nicol was dead scared—but being under him for almost three months now, he had learned to hide such fear in front of the celebrated commander. "I understand sir…I apologize. Sensing that he could yet again get scolded if he made another excuse for the new recruit, he decided to excuse himself. "I'll take my leave then."

"Make sure that she reports on time."

"Yes sir." Giving a salute, he left the dimly lit room.

As the door closed, the said commander frowned at the folder settled on top of his table. His team's third member, Miguel, was transferred to another base. So he was forced to find a new member—and he didn't like it.

Why? Because of the possibility of having a woman, to become his new recruit. And apparently, much to his dislike, the cream of the crop among the ones who were tried out, was a woman. Not that he was sexist or anything…but he saw their capabilities of combat far less than that of men.

Cursing to himself as he clutched the side of his head, he could feel a headache coming as he imagined a woman fighting alongside him on the fierce front lines.

* * *

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME?!"

The Yamato household was filled with a certain blonde girl's scream as she jumped around the house in glee, the cordless phone on one hand while the other hand was busy fist-pumping in excitement.

The person at the other line could not tell if he were to continue with his report, or to wait unitl her excitement died down. "Miss Cagalli? Are you still there?"

A few muffled shouts seconds later, her voice rang through the receiver once again, much to the caller's relief. "I-I'm here!"

"As I was saying, you have garnered the top spot in our simulation—"he could hear a happy squeal from the other line. "That being said, we're offering you the vacated position under Commander Athrun Zala."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" She sounded so happy that the man couldn't help but chuckle. Normally, new recruits like this would act quite formally in such situations—this one was a breath of fresh air.

"Well then, please report at the base by 7:30 am. Please be punctual."

"Yes! I will! Thank you again!" Cagalli was nodding wildly, as if the man on the other line could see her.

As the line went dead, a huge smile was still on Cagalli Yula Attha's face.

She had always dreamed of entering the military—especially when her older brother, Kira Yamato, managed to enter two years ago. The thought of piloting her own gundam and defending her country excited her to no end. After continuous lessons from Kira, she finally tried out for a slot that just recently opened.

"You look happy."

The blonde girl turned her head to see the said man leaning against the kitchen's door frame. She had been too distracted with celebrating that she did not notice her older brother coming in. It seemed as if he had come home straight from work, seeing the white ZAFT uniform that he wore. "Oh! You're home!" A huge smile was still plastered on her face, slightly disturbing Kira.

"…Please don't smile like that." He chuckled as he headed towards the blonde girl, ruffling her hair in the process. "You look borderline psychotic."

Even her brother's casual teasing could not burst her bubble. She was still all smiles, her excitement still fresh. "I got in!"

"You got what in?" Kira looked genuinely confused.

"I got in! I'm part of the military!"

It took a few seconds before Kira processed what his younger sister just said. "You…in the military?" he was in a state of disbelief. As much as he wanted his sister to be happy, he hated the thought of Cagalli battling it out in the front ines—he would give anything to see his sister safe and unharmed all the time, but the blonde girl just wouldn't settle for such.

"They're asking me to report for duty tomorrow morning!"

Kira was still too surprised by the sudden turn of events that he wasn't listening too well. The words 'military' and 'cagalli' were still floating around his head. "...Cagalli…the military force is dangerous. Don't you want to work under intelligence or something? I can talk to the higher ups and—" he stopped upon seeing Cagalli's palm right in front of his face. The blonde girl was still smiling at him amidst this, although he could tell that she was somewhat quite pissed.

"Listen Kira." The blonde girl started as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I got in with my own abilities, and I hope you respect that enough to support me." After which, she gave her older brother a reassuring smile. She did not want such great news to cause a fight.

Kira sighed. He knew that Cagalli was right, but he couldn't really do anything to stop her. She was old enough to decide for herself. "…Alright. But I have one condition."

Cagalli's face lit up. She could not believe that her overprotective brother was that easy to persuade. But after hearing Kira's condition, she couldn't help but realize that she spoke too soon.

"The moment you're ever tagged to be in critical condition, I will file your leave myself. Power play be damned."

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**More than half of the chapter was re-written J I hope the readers won't mind re-reading ^^**


	2. Meeting

**EDITED: APRIL 24, 2013**

* * *

** CHAPTER 02: Meeting**

Cagalli Yula Attha was in complete awe. Growing up, she had only seen lobbies of military facilities that were open to the public. Whenever she visited Kira at any facility, the best she could see were open areas where helicopters would often land or where jeeps carrying cargos would drive by in.

Upon entering through the heavyily guarded gate, they were required to head straight to the main building that had a glass façade on the ground floor. It greeted the guests with the PLANTs and ZAFT military's logo, as if reminding everyone that they were in the presence of such power. Kira Yamato, being a known commander, had received several salutes as Cagalli lagged right behind him. She could feel several stares coming her way, making the blonde quite uncomfortable. It didn't help that she was still in civilian clothes

Kira Yamato looked behind and saw Cagalli's anxious expression. Also, her grip on his uniform assured him of his sister's unease. "Don't worry sis. They're just curious to see a new recruit with me."

Kira handed his ID to a woman who was behind the information desk just in front of the two logos. She smiled after scanning the ID for verification and handing it back to its owner. Afterwards, she turned to look at Cagalli (who looked quite terrified). "Shall I ID her commander?"

Kira nodded and pointed towards a space just beside the desk, which Cagalli complied to immediately. "First time you ever listened to me without complaining sis." Kira chuckled as he made way for his sister.

Cagalli could only glare at him.

Rays of light came from the small camera in front of her and scanned the blonde completely. Afterward, an ID was immediately printed for her. The woman behind the desk verified it like she did with Kira's and handed it to the quite surprised Cagalli. "Please report back here when your rank is verified so we can add it to the database! Thank you!"

Cagalli blinked at the ID she held. Was getting a military ID THAT fast?

Kira could see her surprise, and decided to supply an explanation. "You're with me. If you came here alone, they would've sent you over to some security room and make you undergo some test of sorts."

Cagalli stared at her older brother, who began walking once again. This time, they entered another door which led to a long hallway overlooking a huge open area of the base.

"I didn't know you were quite popular." Cagalli managed to tease amidst her discomfort. A few people were still looking at her, some even going as far as to whisper to each other after they passed by.

Kira merely chuckled at Cagalli's comment. He didn't really talk about work that much when he went home unless Cagalli asked him specific things about it. "Where will you be reporting? I'll take you there or you might get lost."

This earned him a punch on the arm from the blonde girl. After seeing Kira's pained reaction, she searched her pockets for a piece of paper—she had to write it down after Kira instructed her the night before that cellular phones were not allowed inside the base. After opening the now crinkled parchment, she read the name slowly. "To a 'Commander Zala."

Cagalli looked up and saw Kira's face paling. "Kira?"

"…Did you just say Commander Zala?"

Cagalli nodded, still bothered by Kira's unexpected reaction. "Do you know him?"

Kira's eyebrow twitched. He had not expected that his dear, innocent little sister would be subjected to work under such a man. "…are you sure you want to continue with this sis?"

Cagalli glared at him. She was about to start an argument about her right to choose if not for someone's unfamiliar voice calling her name. "Ms. Cagalli Yula Attha?"

Both Kira and Cagalli turned towards the man who was walking briskly towards them. He gave Kira a salute, which the latter did in response. "Good morning Commander Yamato. Can I please excuse Ms. Attha? It's quite urgent."

Cagalli turned to look at Kira and saw that he was quite hesitant to agree, but did so in the end. "Sure." He turned to look at Cagalli and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Good luck sis."

The blonde girl was growing nervous. Why was her brother acting so stiff?

As Kira walked away from them, the man who called her earlier gave her a smile, extending his hand in introduction. "I'm Nicol Amalfi. The guy you talked to at the phone yesterday."

Cagalli took his hand in hers. "Ah…I'm Cagalli Yula Attha."

"Nice to meet you Ms. Attha." Nicol smiled as he shook her hand. "Please excuse me, but we need to run."

Before Cagalli could ask further, the young man had already tugged her hand, pulling her with him as he sprinted to who knows where. After a few hallways here and there, Cagalli finally managed to catch her breath, her hand still in his. "N-Nicol! Where are we going!"

He continued walking amidst the blonde girl's probing. "We're going to Commander Zala." Nicol said as he walked even faster, looking back for a bit to give her a smile.

"Why the rush?" Cagalli was tripping all over the place. This guy was not as gentle as he looked.

Stopping for a while after hearing her, Nicol blinked before answering the blonde's question. "Ms. Cagalli…" He raised his right arm before pulling his red sleeve to expose his watch. "It's 8 AM."

* * *

Cagalli gulped. This was not how she imagined her first day would go.

It was now 8:30 AM, an hour after her supposed report time. If Nicol had not fetched her, she would've been more late than she already was. After finding any uniform that could fit her, Nicol had pushed her inside Commander's office. The green-haired boy could only give her a thumbs up as she watched the metal doors close.

"I see you're quite early Attha."

She froze. The cold atmosphere was only adding to the dread that she was feeling at that very moment. Slowly, she turned to look at the direction of the voice. She was met with a the back of a chair jsut behind a desk.

"I….I apologize sir." Cagalli stuttered. This was the man she would be working under?

"Apologies don't mean a thing unless you prove that it won't happen again." His voice was calm, yet one could easily tell that he was quite pissed. "Do you know what position you were given?"

Cagalli shook her head. Nicol had failed to inform her yesterday. Also, she was too excited that she failed to look at the acceptance letter carefully. She regretted it afterwards upon hearing the man's chair slowly turning around, revealing something quite unexpected.

It was a handsome, blue-haired young man—a far cry from the old man Cagalli imagined him to be. She couldn't help but stare at him for a while, until she heard him talk once again. "You disappoint me to no end, Attha." The man's words stung her. She had been in the military for less than two hours and already her commander was disappointed in her.

"Sir I—"

Before she could explain, Athrun Zala had already started explaining, not even minding if he was rude. "You are my left-hand command. In every battle, you will look after my left side, and nothing else."

Cagalli nodded at this, her fists clenching a bit after seeing him roll his eyes after saying such.

"Do you think you could handle such a responsibility when you can't even come on time?" He smirked, giving the blonde a mocking look that.

Cagalli wanted nothing more than to punch this man. Who was he to tell her that she wasn't capable of the responsibility given to her? She beat everyone during the simulations foe god's sake! "With all due respect sir, I am more capable than those that tried out for this spot."

His face showed that of genuine surprise. He had not expected the blonde girl to be so bold. "It was mere statistics that got you in. If it were up to me, any men after you would be a better choice."

After hearing this, Cagalli just snapped.

"How dare you." Her fists were clenched to its extent. This man…this man was insulting not only her, but all the women who dreamed of entering the battlefield for their country! She was glaring at him with utmost hate. "You have no right to discriminate about women that way! Being in a high ranking position like yours does not give you the power to pass judgement like that you bas—"

"Say that to my face and I can practice my power over my subordinates to subject you to disciplinary action." The man cut her off, quite pissed that she even dare raise her voice at him.

Cagalli grew silent, her fists still clenched quite painfully. She was never one to back down when people trampled over what she beleved.

Athrun Zala looked at her for a few moments before turning his chair to face the window once again. "Report with Amalfi in an hours time. You're dismissed."

With gritted teeth, Cagalli answered with a "Yes Commander Zala." Before making her way out.

As the doors to the office closed, Cagalli was ready to curse the blasted man if not for Nicol Amalfi's presence. The green-haired man was smiling at her for the umpteenth time that day as he leaned on the wall across her.

"Welcome to The Zala team."

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**Most of this Chapter was edited! Hope my readers won't mind re-reading :)**


	3. Intensity

**UPDATE! I was really surprised with how the chapter turned out!  
I quite like it :)! hope you guys enjoy reading ^^!**

**CHAPTER 03: Intensity**

"This is going to be our barracks from now on. We're four in the team so expect to meet our teammates later in the evening. This is your bed and…" Nicol Amalfi looked behind him to see that his new comrade was unusually silent. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to the enthusiastic blonde on the phone. What replaced her seemed to be a pretty pissed blonde girl who looked as if she would start crying at any moment.

Sighing, Nicol turned to look at the girl. He remembered his first time meeting their commander—Miguel had to pep talk him into stopping from crying. "Don't let it get to you."

The blonde girl raised her head to look at him; Quite unsure what to reply.

"Miss Cagalli—"

"Cagalli." She blushed at her attempt to cut him off. She hated being called Miss at such close proximity. Nicol was but an arm's length away from her. "Call me Cagalli."

The man smiled; glad that she was lightening up a bit. "Cagalli." He started, placing a hand on her shoulder as he spoke. "Here in the military, you can't take anything that anybody does personally. You can't let any of your emotions get in the way—especially with our commander."

"But…" She trued finding the right words, clenching her fist at the memory of the man's hateful words. "He's so arrogant. And it's as if he hates the fact that I'm in this team!"

Nicol chuckled, shaking his head at the image of Athrun going on about his deep seethed hate for women. Cagalli did not find anything remotely funny. "This is not funny Nicol!"

"I'm not saying that it's funny." He grinned while looking at the blonde girl. "Like I said, it's nothing personal."

"What do you mean?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Nicol sighed. "It's a known fact here at the base—Commander Zala hates anything remotely woman."

* * *

Cagalli Yula Attha gulped. After Nicol briefed her about the typical things she had to know regarding her living conditions, the two made their way to the cafeteria to have lunch. There were a few soldiers around, each looking at Cagalli as if she was a huge billboard walking around with feet.

Since the cafeteria only had one entrance, everyone knew of their arrival. Some men who were lazily eating on one of the metal tables watched her walk as she made her way to the table. Some women were giggling amongst themselves with mischievous glints in their eyes.

She couldn't help but lower her head a bit. The short green skirt she was wearing did not help at all with her predicament. She had tried to vehemently refuse wearing it, opting for the typical red pants that came with the ZAFT Red's uniform—but no, they were in a rush that time and Nicol had effectively pushed her to 'just wear the skirt this once!'.

"Are you alright?" The green haired man looked at the girl behind her and could see her discretely pulling her skirt down. He couldn't help but feel guilty after remembering how much she fought against wearing it. "I'm sorry for making you wear that. It was the only thing I found on such short notice."

Cagalli shook her head, it wasn't his fault to begin with. "No! it's okay." Her actions said otherwise. "Are we eating? We're meeting the commander in a bit right?"

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Not really. I think the commander scared the hunger out of me." It was true. She felt no inkling to eat whatsoever. And to think Kira teased her that she was a pig when it came to eating.

"Well, you have to eat." Nicol looked at her worriedly, grabbing two metal trays for both of them. The line was quite short, a few of those in line merely chatting with the cafeteria ladies.

They deposited their trays and seconds later, it came back filled with food. It did not look at all that appetizing—more than half of the meal consisted of vegetables and the only meat she could see was a chicken breast.

"Dissapointed?" she could see Nicol looking at her in amusement.

"Kinda." She blushed. This was certainly not her day. All her expectations of a military life was slowly crashing down bit by bit.

The two had their meal in silence, both at ease even with such an atmosphere. Before one of them could start initiating a conversation, two figures suddenly sat themselves one their table, Catching the blonde girl off guard. "Hey beautiful."

Cagalli blushed as she felt a hot breath whisper near her ear. Across her, she could see Nicol rolling his eyes. "Give her a break Aeul."

The other guy right beside him merely glared at her before continuing to eat the sandwich he had in hand.

"I was just joking!" the man 'Aeul', said as he placed an arm around Cagalli's shoulder. He looked quite young, Cagalli noticed. It was as if he came fresh out of highschool—younger even. "Hey there! The name's Aeul Neider!"

Cagalli's face was beet red. This guy's face was just inches from her! She turned to face him, giving him a glare in the process. "I would say that it would be nicer to meet you if you'd be so kind as to give me back my personal space."

Aeul blinked continuously for a moment, quite surprised at the girl's spunk. It was a breath of fresh air from the airheads he normally spoke to when they were allowed rare nights out of the base. Nicol and Shinn were trying hard to contain their sniggers, Shinn even going as far as to hide his face from them.

"Woah! You're a feisty one." Aeul withdrew his hand cautiously, a mischievous smile playing on his lips. Placing both arms in front of his chest, he looked at the blonde in glee. "This is gonna be fun!"

Cagalli's eyebrow twitched. The guy creeped her out.

"Her name's Cagalli, Aeul." Nicol sighed. Aeul could be quite hyper at times. "She's replacing Miguel as our teammate."

Cagalli saw Shinn rolling his eyes. This did not sit well with her. Was this another woman hater she had to deal with? "Do you want to say something?"

All three men turned to look at her, Nicol and Aeul in slight disbelief, while Shinn looked pure outraged. For a moment, she couldn't help but stare at his red orbs as he sent a hateful glare right towards her. It was the first time she saw eyes o such color. "What the hell did you just say?"

Nicol could feel the atmosphere growing tense. He knew that Shinn was not one to back down from fights—let alone with a girl. "Um…This is Shinn Asuka, Cagalli. He's the group's 3rd in command."

"I can't believe this chick got 2nd so easily." Shinn taunted, quite pissed at the girl's audacity to call him out earlier. Also, he couldn't believe that even after months under Commander Zala's team, he still wasn't qualified enough to become the left command. "Don't think you're at par with any of us punk."

Cagalli's eyes darkened. She had enough insults for the day. Aeul and Nicol could only do so much to calm the two down. Seeing the blonde beside him seething, he was trying hard to signal his teammate to stop. "Hey Shinn, give her a break. She's—"

Before Aeul could finish, Cagalli had already stood up, shocking all three occupants of the table. Some of those around them were quite interested in the little scene too, much to Nicol's chagrin. As if it couldn't get any worse, the most mature of the four watched in horror as Cagalli picked up her drink, splashing it right into Shinn Asuka's face.

* * *

Nothing is as frightening as a dormant volcano.

It sits there quietly, a picturesque landscape hiding what could (quite possibly), be a deadly eruption that could ensue at any given time.

And in this case, the dormant volcano "Athrun Zala", had erupted.

"How incompetent can you four get?!" His emerald eyes were dark, fists clenched as he slammed them against his oak table. The four soldiers before him could only wince as several of the objects on top of it jumped, some pens falling out of their container.

After Cagalli's outburst in the cafeteria, Shinn Asuka did not back down, spouting profanities at the blonde girl as Nicol Amalfi held him back. Cagalli, on the other hand, replied with the same vigor, the two having a heated argument with their shouts and cursing filling the whole place.

Of course, this did not come unnoticed by a group of Ground Personnel which looked after the actions of each soldier.

You could only imagine his shock when the head of the BDA (Board of Disciplinary Action) knocked at his door with his whole team in tow, reporting to him that the four needed to be subjected to a week worth of lessons in conduct.

"Are you not aware that it is MY name on the line, and not yours?!" Athrun continued, obviously pissed. He glared at each and every one of them, specifically towards Shinn and Cagalli, who looked the most harassed compared to the two. "Asuka." The man saluted in recognition, continuously facing forward stiffly.

"Attha." Cagalli, seeing Shinn the first time, did the same. She could feel herself shaking in fear. Athrun Zala was thrice as scary compared to the man she met just an hour ago.

"Step forward."

The two followed, Cagalli albeit clumsily.

Athrun rolled his eyes at this, Shinn wanting to do the same. Cagalli could only hold her rage in. "What the hell happened Asuka?"

"Attha threw her drink at me, sir." The man said with a straight face. Nicol and Aeul could not help but feel disappointed. They were throwing each other under the bus, not even trying to make up reasons to lessen Cagalli's possible punishment.

"Is this true?"

Cagalli nodded.

"Speak soldier." Athrun sounded more pissed than ever.

"Yes Sir. I did." Cagalli was trying hard not to glare at him, keeping her head looking straight. "He was insulting my honor sir. I apologize for acting rashly."

Athrun did not even bother asking her what Shinn's exact words were all about. Instead, he stopped in front of Cagalli, glaring at her before doing something that shocked all three men inside the room.

A resounding slap was heard, stunning the blonde girl as she felt a sting on her right cheek.

As the three men lost composure and looked at their commander disbelievingly, Athrun Zala had already turned his back, Announcing in his usual cold tone.

"Your irresponsible and idiotic actions are grounds for forced discharged. Consider this as your punishment and never do it again. You're all dismissed."

Nicol and Aeul had to lead Cagalli out as she walked in a daze towards the door, her hand touching her now reddened cheek.

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**What did you guys think? is it a breath of fresh air compared  
to our often knight-in-shining armor Athrun Zala?  
Reviews are loved! **


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